How to create your own luck and opportunities in life

Those are words frequently shared to and by someone when an opportunity they wanted doesn’t work out for them. Another popular statement is… “God must have different plans.” Now I don’t know what God’s plans are and I certainly can’t tell you what is supposed to happen in your life, but I do believe it’s not either of the two statements, it’s the mere fact that we quit too early.

If you quit too early, there’s no way an opportunity will present itself for you. Trust me.

I’m currently reading a book and the author talks about how he got into law school. He completely tanked the LSAT and wasn’t accepted anywhere. That didn’t stop him one bit. For weeks before classes started and even two weeks into classes starting, he simply would wait for the dean outside of his office and tell him “You have the power to let me in, just tell me to go get my books.” After doing that multiple times a day, for weeks straight, the dean eventually caved and granted the young man entry into law school and after graduating, he’s now living his dream of being a lawyer.

I read that story and I see that he could’ve just given up and said well that door is closed it isn’t meant for me, or that’s just not in the cards. Instead, he saw a closed door that he felt passionately about and he kicked it open.

I ask you today… what is in your life right now that you may have felt like the door has been closed on but you know it’s for you? Are you going to give up or are you going to go kick the door open and make it happen for yourself? Most people never reach their goals because they stop after their first no or quit at the first signs of adversity.

YOU aren’t most people… you are meant to win!

I encourage you: go take what’s yours and create opportunities for yourself.

I’ll never forget when I was fifteen years old I was sitting in a classroom talking to a friend and I told him I wanted to be a Division 1 athlete (to those who don’t follow sports, Division ! is the highest collegiate level at which you can compete). One of my other teammates overheard me, turns around looks at me laughs and says “there is no way you’ll be a Division 1 athlete, you wont even be a college athlete.”

Right then and there I could have been defeated and figured maybe he was right because in reality there is a 1.7% chance of me reaching my goal. I just looked at him and said just you watch.

As college came closer, I started hearing from schools, but they weren’t the schools I wanted. If I was going to be a Division 1 athlete I needed to compete with the best of the best. I remember one of my coaches telling me that maybe I should settle, it might not be in the cards to go to a major, competitive program and that maybe I should look at a program that wasn’t as good. In my heart I couldn’t accept that. I knew I wanted to be great, I knew I wanted to compete with the best.

After countless hours of hard work, waking up early, running and working out on holidays, I’m proud to say I achieved my goal. Not only did I go Division 1 at Oral Roberts University to run track, but was one on a top 15 ranked team. Most people saw a closed door… I saw an opportunity ready to be taken if I wanted it badly enough.

That opportunity would have never presented itself without the resiliency to keep pushing and putting in the work that nobody else wanted to.

I get what you’re thinking: it’s easy to say that but it’s harder to live it! You know what you are absolutely right!

It is hard not to quit, it is hard to pick yourself up, it is hard to make an opportunity for yourself, but what I can vouch for is that it is worth it! I’ve been there, self doubting, down on my luck, hardly any friends, no money in my account, an eviction notice on my door, crying to my folks not sure if I would ever make it or if it ever got better. I’m here to tell you that there is another side, a side of accomplishment, confidence, and resiliency.

There is a sweet taste in knowing when most people crumble and throw their hands up to quit you dug a little deeper and made it happen. I’m not here to say life is fair but what I am here to say is don’t be the one who gave up to early, or took the first no as the final answer.

Rise up, dust yourself off and run at that door again because it’s yours if you want it.